This invention relates generally to a support for an outdoor cooking apparatus. More particularly, this invention concerns a collapsible cantilevered support for an outdoor cooking apparatus. The collapsible support and accessories mounted thereon are foldable into the interior of an enclosure defined by the pan of the cooking apparatus and a housing to which the cantilevered support is attached. The housing constitutes the rim of the spare tire, mounted on a vehicle or a portable housing.
In the past it has been common to attach legs to the bottom of the pan of an outdoor cooking apparatus, e.g., a barbecue grill, by bolting the legs to the pan or otherwise relatively permanently attaching the legs to the pan, with the only portability of the cooking apparatus residing in attaching wheels to some or all of the legs. When it was desired to use the cooking apparatus away from one's own home, e.g., on a camping trip, it has been necessary in the past to disassemble the legs from the pan in order to conserve space in the vehicle which transports the campers to the camping location and to reassemble the cooking apparatus at the location with a subsequent disassembly and reassembly for the return journey home. Alternatively, one could take the entire cooking apparatus as assembled, which is partically impossible when traveling in a car and particularly cumbersome even inside a relatively roomy recreational vehicle. Such portable cooking apparatuses have thus exhibited at best a modicum of utility for purposes of camping away from home, and room for significant improvement remains.
The problems enumerated in the foregoing are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many which tend to impair the effectiveness of previously known portable outdoor cooking apparatuses. Other noteworthy problems may also exist; however, those presented above should be sufficient to demonstrate that portable cooking apparatuses appearing in the art have not been altogether satisfactory.